Tom Waits • Small Change Live

Images by Elizabeth Wolynski - for more visit her blog.

Just the other day, I was sitting around listening to 'Small Change', the great album released by Tom Waits in 1976. It blends the Jazz, Blues and Pop together so perfectly, it transports me. Waits' voice, so filled with whiskey and rye, and God knows how many cartons of cigarettes, delivers the lyrics with a style so very much his own. Part storyteller, part troubadour, part spoken word performer, and part down-on-his-luck-guy-at-the-end-of-the-bar, he brings you to a familiar yet not always comfortable place. I will start with "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)", the first track on the album. While every man looking for luck at the bottom of a bottle speaks of the woman who brought them there, Waits finds hope in Matilda. Listen as he incorporates the Australian Bush Ballad, "Waltzing Matilda", in his tale.



Tin Pan Alley blues sounds a lot like Tom's "Step Right Up". There is a bright and fluffy side the to the song, like cotton candy waiting to be eaten. But listen closer, and you hear Waits' biting satire on the commercialism of America.



When I first heard "]Invitation To The Blues", I get the same feeling now as I did then. The saxophone and Tom's vocals reach down deep, and touch the soul, reminding of great heartache.



And, finally there is the Jazz-infused "The One That Got Away", the seductive song is driven by the upright bass and Waits' own interpretation of syncopation.



As much as I love Tom Waits' music, I continue to return to 'Small Change'. The brilliance of Tom's artistry and the depth of his emotional investment is incredible. You can find 'Small Change' on iTunes and Amazon. For more about Tom Waits, visit his official website.

New Years Resolutions

Clockwise: Dylan Rice; Breathe; Tom Waits; and Shane Mack.

I decided that since we are coming up on the last week of January, it was time to discuss all those New Years Resolutions that were made in a fit of panic, or a somewhat altered state. No matter the case, for a majority of people, by this time all the Resolutions made have been broken in one way or another. They have been forgotten, actively abolished, or willpower has not held. But, no matter the reason, they hare a thing of the past, much like certain bets in bars with your best friend, or promises to call that one-night-stand the next day. So,whenever I hear resolutions or the aforementioned promises being made, I feel like shouting one thing: lies! Even on New Years Eve, as a friend is sipping on their cocktail, once they start the sentence with "my New Years Resolution will be..." I hear Dylan Rice singing in my head, to his amazing song off the 2004 album Wandering Eyes. Yes, my mind starts hearing The Lie.



I have always loved that song, and that whole album. You can find Dylan Rice on iTunes and on Amazon.

There are also times when my 1980s retrospective comes online, and the next thing I know, I am hearing the lovely voices of Breathe sing on of their big hits, Don't Tell Me Lies from the 1987 album All That Jazz. Man, this is so infectious, there are times I swear I can't get it out of my head!



See, now it might be stuck in your head! You can find Breathe on iTunes and on Amazon.

And there are many times she the gorgeous voice of the handsome Shane Mack comes into my head, singing to something I or a close friend has said. Well, that he sang, as part of the soundtrack to the Movie Shelter, released in 2007. I have been waiting for at least five years for Mack to put out an album, and have yet to be greeted with a definite answer. Until then, I will be content to listen to Lie To Me by Shane.



That song is all kinds of sexy and sultry, I think I would lose it if I saw him performing that in person. You can find Shane Mack on Music From The Here! Original Film Shelter on iTunes and on Amazon.

And, finally, we have a sweet little ditty by the same name by the outrageously talented Tom Waits. Here is Tom singing Lie To Me from his 2006's Orphans album. And check out this clever video for the song.



I just find Waits almost impossible to resist. You can find Tom Waits on iTunes and on Amazon. And that is what I think of New Years Resolutions!

Celebrate The Workers

Clockwise: Tom Waits; Bruce Springsteen; Billy Bragg; and The Hooters.

For Labor Day Weekend, I thought I would showcase some songs that spoke to the very people the weekend celebrates - the working men and women who made this country strong. In 1931, lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg and composer Jay Gorney wrote a song about surviving the Great Depression, felt so heavily by the working class when the stock market collapsed in 1929. Harburg, who is now perhaps best known for writing the lyrics for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic Over The Rainbow. The result of their collaboration was Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?, made famous by both Rudy Vallee and Bing Crosby, both who had a hit, making it to #1 on the charts. But I decided to go with the version from 1976, sung by the talented Tom Waits.



The next song was written by Joe Hill in 1913. There Is Power In A Union was recorded by my beloved Billy Bragg singing from his 1986 album, Talking To The Taxman About Poetry. It is certainly self-explanatory, written and performed to show support for the labor unions.



In 2006, Bruce Springsteen performed a tribute to the amazing Pete Seeger on The Late Show with Conan O'Brien. He played Pay Me My Money Down, a song included on his 2006 album, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. The song was thought to be a "work song" for the the dock workers on the islands off the Georgia Coast. It was also thought to be a slave song, based on old Negro Spirituals. It was performed by the Weavers at the 1955 Carnegie Hall Concert, bringing the song back to the public. Here is Bruce's joyous performance.



The final song I am offering up was written in 1961 by Hedy West, a folk singer/songwriter and strong part of the folk revival of the 60s. 500 Miles was first made popular by the Kingston Trio in 1962, who scored #3 on the music charts. It was also a popular track for Peter, Paul & Mary at the same time. It spoke to the railway workers who left home to work, and were often left on the road broke and unemployed by the greedy railroad bosses. I decided to go with a version by Philadelphia's The Hooters, a band I have always loved. It was on their 1989 album Zig Zag, and had background vocals by Peter, Paul &Mary.



Hope you are enjoying the long weekend, and remembering all the working people who made this country great!

Tom Waits is Amazing

Sometimes I like that I can have convoluted explanations about why I posted some artist or another, but this is a time when I have to say, why bother. I just love Tom Waits, and was in the mood to post a couple of his songs, so I am. Tom Waits is a brilliant musician, one who is not appreciated nor listened to nearly enough.

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? was written in 1931 by lyricist E. Y. "Yip" Harburg and composer Jay Gorney. Harburg is best known for writing the soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz with the great Harold Arlen. Waits recorded it for his 1976 album, Spare Parts.



Best known as a Doo Wop song, Sea Of Love was written by Phil Phillips and George Khoury, and recorded by Phillips in 1959. Thirty years later, Waits recorded it for the soundtrack of a movie of the same name, starring Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin. Not surprisingly, it was a bit on the darker, more tortured side.



I am not sure who first had the idea to have Waits cover a song from the 1959 Broadway musical West Side Story, but the choice of putting Somewhere on his 1978 album Blue Valentine was pure genius. To have this singer record a song by the immortal Leonard Bernstein and a young Stephen Sondheim was something that just makes me happier than listening to an album should.



For more about Tom Waits, check out his official website here. You can find his music everywhere they sell music, like iTunes, Amazon.com, and CD Universe. And I must do another post on Tom Waits soon, for I haven't even posted my favorites yet!

Dark Monday - Red Hot + Blue 2

Twenty years ago, the album Red Hot + Blue was released. It featured the music of American musical theater legend Cole Porter and some of the top acts of the day, all to raise money and awareness for AIDS research. The album contained 20 cuts, and I found 17 videos for those cuts, and for the next several weeks, will be running them in this Monday night spot. The album was a fundraising tool, it also allowed the artists involved great freedom with their interpretation of Porter's music, making for a wide variety of styles on the album. We shall go through the album in the order that is on my CD, which I did purchase at the time.



Porter was an amazing talent, and some consider him one of the best LGBT songwriters, if not THE best. He started his Broadway career in 1915, when one of his songs appeared in a Broadway Revue. He was just 24 years old. He went on to write songs for the theater like Lets Do It, Let's Fall In Love, What Is This Thing Called Love, and Anything Goes.Despite having a wife of 35 years, most believed him to be gay, and the marriage one between two dear friends who gave one another space and freedom, while gaining both wider acceptance in the greater world at large.

Brilliant solo artist Kirsty MacColl was a bit of a darling for the critics and many late 80s bands, making duets with several. This includes The Pogues, who combined traditional Irish music with Punk and New Wave sensibilities. One this collection, they contributed a compilation of two songs, Miss Otis Regrets and Just One Of Those Things. Miss Otis debuted in 1934 for the musical Hey Diddle Diddle. Just One Of Those Things debuted in 1935, part of the musical Jubilee. In the 50s, the song was featured in two separate movie musicals, sung by Doris Day.



While he might be most well known for his part of the monumental Talking Heads, Scotsman David Byrne was often busy making music of his own during the life of the band, 1974-1991. He used his interesting rhythms and percussion arrangements for the song Don't Fence Me In, originally written in 1934 fro a musical that was never released. In 1944, the song was sung by Roy Rogers in the movie Hollywood Canteen, and became tied to him throughout his career. This was fine with Porter, who was never particularly fond of the song.



Gravelly-voiced Tom Waits also contributed to the collection. For those who don't know Waits, for much of the 70s and 80s, he was the darling of the independent scene, utilizing Jazz, Blues and 'Tin Pan Alley' music and sounds to bring his own edge to rock music. I will admit to having several of his albums in my collection - his versions of Somewhere (from West Side Story), Romeo Is Bleeding and Waltzing Matilda are hard to equal. Here, he does a rather amazing cover of It's Alright With Me, a song written in 1953 for the Broadway musical Can-Can.



Look for more next Monday!